Synopsis

The New York Times bestseller and the USA Today #1 Hot Fiction Pick for the summer, The Chaperone is a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922 and the summer that would change them both.

Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob with blunt bangs, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will transform their lives forever.

For Cora, the city holds the promise of discovery that might answer the question at the core of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in this strange and bustling place she embarks on a mission of her own. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of Cora’s relationship with Louise, her eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive.

Drawing on the rich history of the 1920s,’30s, and beyond—from the orphan trains to Prohibition, flappers, and the onset of the Great Depression to the burgeoning movement for equal rights and new opportunities for women—Laura Moriarty’s The Chaperone illustrates how rapidly everything, from fashion and hemlines to values and attitudes, was changing at this time and what a vast difference it all made for Louise Brooks, Cora Carlisle, and others like them.

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CUSTOMER REVIEWS

Interesting insight into 1920s America and a range of issues of the time. I'd recommend it, was hooked a number of times and couldn't put it down.

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Karen

1 review

January 26th, 2014

I quite enojyed this book. It took a few unexpected turns, and I found myself really caring about the character of Cora. It was her story more than that of Louise Brooks that I got wrapped up in. If you love period novels, it's lush too. I would definitely recommend this book, I plan on giving it as a gift.

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k

1 review

Great read

January 1st, 2014

I really enjoyed this clever and original story.

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Lisa

1 review

The Chaperone

November 10th, 2013

A page-turner. Interesting story and well written.

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Barbara

1 review

October 10th, 2013

This was a beautifully written book that told the story of two interesting women and the summer that changed both of their lives. It was interesting to see a story that weaves through several decades and illustrates what the world was like during that time.

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emily

1 review

The Chaperone

September 12th, 2013

A very thoughtful and entertaining book. It is filled with wonderful twists and turns all of which create the wonderful character, Cora.

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Donald

1 review

Quite the saga!

March 10th, 2013

Great read. Well paced and engaging. Surprisingly it sis not end when I expected it to...

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Dorothea

1 review

The Chaperone

January 18th, 2013

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the openness and most of all Cora's self discovery. It gave me some understanding of the life I lead and my thoughts. A great read!